CES 2016: Adult Beverages, Smart Style

As connected devices further wend their way into every corner of our homes, enterprising brands are finding new and interesting ways to take advantage of smart technology. We’ve seen plenty of smart kitchen appliances in the past, and two we scoped out at CES 2016 offer a bit of a twist (lemon, if you like). These devices bring new levels of customization to the ages-old tradition of enjoying alcoholic beverages.

If a Keurig coffeemaker and a slow-cooker got together one evening to enjoy some beer and a little alone time, the resultant baby would be the PicoBrew Pico Smart Brewing System. The craft beer explosion has made home-brewing more popular than ever, but it’s still a task that requires patience, specialized equipment, and at least a basic understanding of typical beer ingredients. PicoBrew is a home-brewing option for those looking for a lower barrier to entry. Simply insert the prepackaged ingredient combo into the brewing system, add optional additional ingredients, and turn a knob. In a week, you have freshly-brewed custom beer to enjoy, straight out of a mini keg. Agreements with popular breweries let you make your favorite beers at home. The PicoBrew might never replace the handcrafting process for dedicated home-brewers, but it will put custom brews in the bellies of those hoping to dip their toes in the hobby.

The Keurig analogy continues on with our next find, the D-Vine from French startup 10-Vins. Described as having a personal French sommelier in your home, the D-Vine is designed to select and pour you the perfect glass of wine in only a minute. True wine aficionados understand the importance of proper decantation and serving temperature to the taste of a wine, but casual wine drinkers who aren’t as in-the-know might inadvertently let their vino suffer, and they probably don’t have a wine refrigerator full of options to choose from. 10-Vins created the D-Vine so everyone can get the maximum enjoyment out of every wine, without needing extensive knowledge of the craft.

The 10-Vins D-Vine smart wine dispenser, with an assortment of wines.

To enjoy a perfect glass of wine from the D-Vine, you select a wine from the selection of available types, which come packaged in single-serving canisters. Each canister is labeled with an RFID chip that stores info about the optimal serving temperature and level of aeration. In less than a minute, the D-Vine brings your wine to that temperature and oxygen level, ensuring you get maximum taste out of every sip. The single-serving flacons let you throw a dinner party and serve a different varietal of wine to every guest, without the worry of letting an open bottle of vino go bad. We got to talk to the inventor of the D-Vine at CES: